The technology of the electronics industry, especially in the computer industry, is improving so rapidly that the new equipment has such desirable features that the old equipment is rendered essentially obsolete well before the end of its designed lifespan. When this happens the old equipment is normally scrapped, wasting a significant amount of still useful components.
Presently, one electronic component that is evolving rapidly is the micro-processor, a component that is contained within devices ranging from the personal computer to industrial controllers. The new micro-processors allow the user to accomplish tasks in a way that were not imagined just a couple of years ago, thereby making them very desirable and the devices containing the older micro-processors essentially worthless. One way to take advantage of the still useful components within the old equipment is to upgrade the micro-processor, giving the old equipment capability close to that of the newer equipment.
There are numerous ways to approach the problems associated with upgrading the micro-processor which generally has leads soldered directly to a printed circuit board. One method is that the old micro-processor can be removed from the board by desoldering and the new microprocessor can be resoldered in its place. However, this is difficult to accomplish, especially in the field, due to the high density of leads associated with the micro-processors.
Another method would be for the manufacturer to incorporate chip carrier sockets onto the printed circuit board during manufacture that would allow a user to change micro-processors without soldering. However, a problem with this approach is that incorporating sockets onto the printed circuit board must be done at the time of manufacture or the same problems associated with resoldering exist. The use of sockets adds expense to the end product because of the additional cost of the socket and the additional costs of assembly. Another problem, inherent in both of the above solutions, is there is no way to accommodate upgrades that have a different lead configurations.
What is needed is a user-friendly connector that can be installed by an end-user in the field for connecting an upgraded micro-processor component directly over the existing micro-processor, disabling it, and running the system through the upgraded component.